• Ryder Cup

Olazabal to select four vice-captains

ESPN staff
May 21, 2012
Jose Maria Olazabal will follow Colin Montgomerie's lead as European captain © Getty Images
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European skipper Jose Maria Olazabal will appoint four trusted lieutenants as vice-captains for the Ryder Cup at Medinah later this year.

Reports had suggested that he would go with half as many as previous captain Colin Montgomerie, who chose four, but Olazabal has quashed that rumour.

"I am surprised to learn that there have been media reports suggesting that we will have only two vice-captains," the Spaniard said. "I don't know where they could have come from or whether there has been some misunderstanding, but I want to make it clear that I will be selecting four vice-captains.

"This is what Davis [American captain Davis Love] and I agreed in Chicago last September. I have said many times that as a vice-captain myself in 2008 and 2010 I learned that you need a lot of help that week.

"You need eyes, extra eyes to follow the players in the practice rounds to gather as much information as you can about how everyone is playing. Then it is important to have each match watched because you have to hand in your pairings for the afternoon matches when the players are still out on the course.

"That means it is absolutely essential to have all the information you can get before you put those pairings down on paper to be handed in. I would say it is borderline to do the Ryder Cup with less than four vice-captains. Never at any time have I considered reducing that number to three, let alone two."

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